Page 37 of Worth the Try
“You.”
I skid to a stop in the canned food section. Holy shit. “Did you?—”
“Oh my God,” she mumbles. “I didn’t mean that.”
I grin. “I don’t know,” I tease. “I think you did. You find out I’m famous and suddenly?—”
“I’m hanging up now.”
“No!” I laugh, starting to walk again. “Please don’t. We’ll move past that.” Even though I most definitely do not want to move past that.
“Pasta.” The word comes out as if she still has her hand over her mouth. I can picture how red she must be right now. Fucking adorable.
“You like pasta?”
“And shrimp. All seafood.”
“Look at you go—now we’re getting somewhere. What else?”
“Isn’t that enough?”
“Are you squirming?” I tease. “I bet you’re squirming.”
“Shut up.”
I bark out a laugh, startling some of the other shoppers. I lower my voice. “Tell me what else you like, Elodie.”
She starts to cough.
“You okay?”
She gives a strangled “Yep!” Then coughs more.
I keep going, moving through the store as quickly as I can. “Seriously, are you okay?”
“Fine, I’m fine.” She takes a deep breath and lets it out. “Are we done here? Don’t you need to focus on shopping? Price comparison and all that?”
I toss a box of Honey Nut Cheerios in the basket. “Uh, no? I just want to know what you like.”
Something between a choke and a whimper comes through the phone.
“Seriously, are you okay? Do you need water?” I prompt.
“Nope, we’re good!” she chirps. “But, ah, I gotta go. Hard work judging cannonballs, you know.”
“But—”
“See you when you get home, bye!”
I pull the phone away from my ear and look at the screen. Huh. She hung up on me. Was it something I said? Shrugging, I finish the shopping and head home.
My phone buzzes as I’m pulling into the driveway. I grin as I throw the engine into Park, figuring it’s Elodie. But the second I pull my phone from the outside kit pocket, my system floods with anger.
UNKNOWN
Ansel, you can’t keep ignoring me.
Yeah? Watch me.I pull up my lawyer’s number and dial.
